Bystander - Version 2
by Blonde Thunder Ninja
Summary: You didn't have to be a SOLDIER, or a Turk to understand what ShinRa's intentions were. I'm not the same person I was before, I know what true evil is, what true madness is, my name is Charley. This is my story as a janitor of ShinRa.
1. Introduction

Note: I'm re-vamping this story and I plan to do it with my other ones. I feel that I can improve my writing and I have thought about adding things into the story to make it seem like it has more to it and make it interesting. This is the introduction, enjoy!

Introduction

If you saw me in a crowd of people you wouldn't think much of me. After all, there's nothing special about my appearance. A 20 something year old man with messy chocolate brown hair that's neither curled nor straight covered by an old blue hat, bright green eyes that stand out even more, and a fairly tall figure that's also thin but not muscular at all, dressed in a black shirt with a blue and gray plaid button up shirt over that, black jeans and gray converse shoes. Nope, nothing special about a guy like that.

Right now, I'm sitting in my temporary home, a crappy looking apartment eating cold noodles that I bought at a convenience store not too long ago wondering what my next move is. I can't stay here for very long they'll find me and do something to me.

'What has this Planet come to?' I thought to myself sadly suddenly losing my appetite as memories resurfaced. They were things I wanted to forget, but at the same time they were the answers to the situation I was currently in. I haven't had any phone calls, no contact with anyone, nothing. I grabbed the thing I kept in my pocket, a small gold picture frame with a chain attached to it, I opened it up and felt myself choke up as I looked inside.

Currently I'm not living anywhere, currently I'm unemployed, currently I'm missing.

Currently, I'm not what I thought I was.

I used to work for ShinRa.

Not as a Turk, or a SOLDIER…but as a janitor.

My name is Charley, this is my story.


	2. A New Beginning

Notes: Okay, so now you know who the character is from here on out this will be about his past. This chapter in particular looks a little more into what his character is like. Enjoy!

Chapter One: My New Life

I used to be a stupid teenager. I just turned eighteen when I came to Midgar, right after I got out of school I decided I wanted to work. Money was scarce in my foster family so I couldn't afford being sent off to some professional school to do some professional job like business or medicine. Besides, I couldn't see myself in a white collar job and medicine wasn't my thing.

Yes, I did live in a foster home, I've lived in one since I was a toddler, I can't remember my real parents and quite frankly I don't care to know them. My foster family has given me enough love that I'm satisfied with the way I turned out even though I was never officially adopted by anyone. I grew up in Rocket Town, I'm from a small city… but Midgar is NOTHING like Rocket Town.

The first thing that greeted me when I arrived there was the smog. Thick, smog, I mean my eyes were watering. Sure Rocket Town had it's own fair share of pollution with the scientists and their space program that I've seen every single day of my life but Midgar had a different feel to it. I was sitting on the train taking in the scenery. It all scared me to be honest. Thick steel, giant lights, and no sunshine.

Now I know what you're thinking, why did I come here, what purpose did I have?

I was looking for opportunity. Yes, opportunity, I wanted to get away from home and I felt that Midgar was calling my name, I wanted to work here, I didn't care that I was just a teenager fresh out of school this was the place I wanted, no, needed to be. Just the other week I heard about a job offer at Midgar and phoned my interest, I got an interview over the phone and well….they were looking for a young custodian to clean and maintain the SOLDIER complex. Needless to say I fit the part and they asked me to come over here to meet them in person. Did I have the job? Well I thought I did for the most part but my presence would determine it.

The train finally stopped and I grabbed my bags and stepped off of it. My foster mother had told me that I needed to arrive there well-dressed. If you consider well-dressed being a gray polo and black slacks with converses with my old blue hat that was well dressed for me (by the way I hate polos, they make me look like a poser). I looked around the train station, my green eyes surveying the crowd, someone was supposed to be waiting for me here to take me to the building so I could meet the bossman….eh….well I can't remember what his last name was because it was so complicated, I think it started with a 'D', but I knew his first name was Lazard.

"Are you Charley?" a man suddenly asked me stepping out of the crowd. He wasn't anyone too important just a man in a suit.

I nodded my head, "Yes?"

"Please come with me."

I grabbed my bags and followed the man to a black fancy looking car, I mean where I'm from you mostly have trucks for labor, cars were always a luxury and only people who earn a lot of cash have cars like these.

"I'll take those." The man said grabbing my bags and putting them in the trunk before opening the door to the car and motioning me to get in. I got in the back while the other man got in the driver's seat and we started onward to our destination, the SOLIDER complex.

As we drove in to the parking garage I looked outside there were so many able-bodied men that I was nervous already. I mean some of these guys were younger than me and looked like they were capable of kicking my ass. Finally, we parked the car and the man held the door for me to get out. I had to admit, I felt the treatment I was receiving wasn't necessary, granted it was nice but I didn't need it. I followed the guy to the building where we approached an elevator and he pushed the button to the highest floor. I stopped the urge to roll my eyes, of course the bossman would have his office on the highest floor…seriously why there why not the ground?

Eventually we made it and stepped out of the elevator where we were greeted by a receptionist.

"Can I help you?" she said in a rather annoyed voice.

'Bitch.' I thought to myself.

"This is the young man that the Director is meeting with today." The man explained.

The woman blinked and her lips twitched, "Oh, right." She picked up the phone and dialed a number, "Director, your appointment is here. Very well then." She slammed down the phone, "You may go in; first one on the right."

"Thank you." The man said and went in with me following behind. Cheese and crackers, I was starting to hate this already and I hadn't even confirmed the fact that I had a job. This was ridiculous! I didn't want to be treated like I was invisible! I bit back the urge to talk smack to these people, after all why would I want to gain a job then lose it?

The door was open and I saw a man with blonde hair and blue eyes sitting at a desk. He looked up at us and smiled, "Welcome to Midgar Charley, I hope you didn't have any trouble getting here."

It took me a second to realize he was addressing me, I cleared my throat and replied, "N-no trouble at all sir."

"Have a seat." He said to me. I complied to his request while the man who had driven me here stepped outside and shut the door behind him almost making me jump.

"Care for a drink?" Lazard asked me.

"Oh, no thank you." I said sitting up straight and took off my hat to look somewhat respectful.

"Very well then." He said and picked up some papers, "Now then, we had spoken over the phone a week ago in regards to the position you are looking to work in."

I nodded my head.

A stack of papers was handed to me, "This is all you'll need to keep track of, we need to make sure this building is well-maintained. There's also a map, you'll probably need it for your first few days this place is rather big. You also have phone numbers of other employees to have contact with and paperwork to fill out, just your information really; I expect that by tomorrow. Oh and your work hours, they may vary sometimes during the holidays depending on when you're needed. You start tomorrow at 5 am sharp. Any questions?"

I looked at the stack of papers and looked at him, "Does this mean I got the job?"

Lazard gave a small chuckle, "Yes, you got the job."

I couldn't help but smile, he didn't call me over here for more evaluations for me, he called me over here so I could get started!

"Thank you, thank you very much Director, sir." I said shaking his hand. "I won't disappoint you."

"Excellent." He said before calling the other man in, "Take Charley to where he'll be staying."

The man nodded and I followed him out the door after giving another quick 'thank-you to Lazard. Now I was honestly excited I wanted to jump up and down and shout, 'Awww yeah!' at the top of my lungs but that would have to wait for when I was alone. Right now this guy was gonna show me where I was supposed to live. Yeah, I will say I was worried at first because when I came to Midgar I was wondering where the hell I was gonna stay that wasn't too expensive and not too far from my job.

We had gotten back in the most luxurious car I'd ever gotten a chance to ride in and drove just a little ways down to a simple looking apartment complex.

"Is this where all employees stay?" I asked the guy.

"Most of them yes, and we do have a few SOLDIERs and Turks in the area as well." He pulled up to one building and stopped the car getting out and grabbing my bags. I got out as well and the man handed me my bags along with a key, "Your place is Building 2 on the third floor room 317. Your work uniform is also in there as well. Remember to pay the rent every month the price is listed in that paperwork. Any further questions?"

I shook my head no and the man told me to "have a good day" and drove off. I sighed grabbing my stuff and making my way up to my new home away from home.

For a place that had a cheap price it was actually worth living in! Everything was so clean, and it also already had a couch and a TV inside! I managed to get myself settled. I would worry about getting more furniture for the place later, right now I wanted to set the room up.

I found my work uniform sitting on my bed. It was navy blue in color and had the ShinRa logo on the right side along with an ID tag that had my name on it. By the way, President ShinRa must have been a really insecure guy in his younger life if he needs to have his name all over every single freaking thing on the Planet! I mean, I don't think there's a place on this Planet he hasn't stamped his logo on.

Eventually I set up the place to where it looked like someone was living there. Then I got out my cell phone, a standard PHS flip-phone that I got for my 18th birthday and started putting in contacts. After doing that I dialed another number that I found in the phone book in the kitchen and ordered a medium vegetarian pizza.

Yes…I am a vegetarian, I've been one since I was fourteen, don't judge me.

Oh, and I got myself a large bottle of soda too. C'mon I may be vegetarian but I'm not that big on being a health nut.

I would say I was doing alright, just sitting on the couch reading the paperwork and filling it out. I decided to wait until tomorrow or something to go buy myself some groceries and maybe explore the town a bit. I had brought energy drinks on my trip over here but that was gonna be my breakfast for tomorrow.

I put my leftover pizza in the fridge and made my way to the couch again to watch some TV. Might as well as dumb myself down, I started work tomorrow, a new life, my life as a janitor of SOLDIER.

To Be Continued…


	3. First Day on the Job

Notes: Okay, so here in this chapter you'll get to see what Charley's first day of work was like. Let's just say his life never seems to have a dull moment at this point. Enjoy!

Chapter Two: First Day on the Job

I woke up around four, showered, shaved, and got dressed. I tried to comb out my hair as best as I could but ended up putting my old blue hat on, it always made my hair seem less messy anyways. I put on my red converses for the day with my uniform, grabbed my keys and paperwork, my leftovers from last night which would serve as my lunch, an energy drink AKA my breakfast, and my music player so I had something to listen to while I was on cleaning duty.

When I got to work the first thing I did was grab the cart of cleaning supplies from the closet and look at the list. First I had to clean the showers of the cadets, that wasn't too hard to find considering it was on the first floor.

When I got in there the stench hit me hard! It smelled like sweat, cheap spray on cologne, vomit, and something else not worth mentioning. Oh well, I had to look past the scent and get to work. I started off by cleaning all the toilets, the sinks and then worked on the showers and floors last. The good news is it didn't take me too long to scrub the place down to where the place smelled nicer and looked a little cleaner too. I was proud of myself, the place looked spotless. I looked at the list, my next destination were the office bathrooms. Apparently bathrooms are the first and last thing you usually clean here. I went on my way to get the job done.

* * *

Around ten I made my way to the mess hall to clean up after all the SOLDIERs had eaten. As I walked around a few of the SOLDIERs stared at me as if wondering 'What's this guy doing here?' I just lowered my hat further down so that no one could look at my face.

Now, before you people accuse me of being anti-social let me tell you something. When I came to Midgar I came here to work, not to make friends. I didn't have friends in Rocket Town. Why? Let me put it this way, no one wants to make friends with a guy who didn't grow up with REAL parents, guess they didn't want to offend me or something like that; I was a bit of a social outcast. Not only that but I've always been a little shy and thus it was easier to isolate me from everyone else.

I made it to the mess hall and got to work grabbing the mop and a bucket that I had filled with water and stuff to clean the floor and sanitize it. It was a lot of work but I got the job done in no time. It was when I started to take out the trash that someone said, "Wow, you did an amazing job, I don't think I've ever seen this place so clean."

I turned around and saw a middle-aged woman with tan skin, brown hair that was turning slightly gray and brown eyes. She was dressed in a work uniform for the kitchen staff and had a hair net on.

"Thank you." I said picking up the garbage bag. "It's my first day and I told the boss I wouldn't disappoint him."

"I see." She said.

"Where's the back door?" I asked her, I was a little embarrassed but I figured she would know since it sounded like she's been working here longer.

"I'll show you." She said and motioned me to follow her where she opened the door and pointed to the dumpster. After tossing it in and going back inside to grab the other two she asked, "What's your name?"

"Charley." I replied, "And yours?"

"Linda." She said.

"Thanks for helping me out there Linda." I said washing my hands in the sink when a loud growl came from my stomach. I felt my face grow hot in embarrassment and resisted the urge to hide my face in my hand; cheese and crackers talk about bad timing.

"Have you eaten?" she asked me.

Oh no, not the question I wanted. "Um….kind of?"

She narrowed her eyes at me, "What do you mean 'kind of'?"

I knew she wasn't going to let me go on this. I sighed, "I had an energy drink on my way to work this morning."

Linda gasped at me as if I had done something wrong, "What's the matter with you? That's not food! Food is something you chew, not drink!"

"I have leftovers for lunch I can wait until then." I told her as she moved over to one of the refrigerators in the kitchen to pull something out.

"That's no excuse!" she said and I saw her return with a giant banana nut muffin in hand, "Here eat this."

I gulped taking the muffin from her, "L-Linda, are you sure? Won't I get in trouble? Won't you get in trouble-!" she held a hand up at my face.

"It's fine." She smiled, "We always have food leftover, some of us take it home. Now eat that muffin and get back to work."

"Yes ma'am." I said with a small grin and bit into deliciousness.

* * *

I gotta tell you, Linda made my day by giving me that delicious muffin to eat, now my stomach had stopped growling. I had a feeling I would be seeing her quite a lot since she's the one who sticks around to clean off the dishes and trays in the kitchen. I shook my head, cheese and crackers this place needed more kitchen helpers…maybe Director Lazard needed to be informed, but then again what did he know, he probably ate high-quality catered food.

My next stop was the basement where the labs were located, it wasn't on my list but I had received a text on my phone that they had needed me, I guessed it was some accidental spill of some sort. As I made my way down to the elevator I saw it open and a very pissed off feminine-looking man with reddish-brown hair wearing a red coat stood there. He stomped out of the elevator, a murderous look in his blue-Mako eyes and as he passed me by in the hallway he thrust out his left hand and pushed me into the wall continuing to walk forward.

"Ow!" I whispered as I slid down to the floor clutching my shoulder. 'Cheese and crackers, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed!' I thought to myself glaring. I stood back up and pushed my cart towards the elevator pressing the button. "He could have at least had the decency to apologize." I muttered as the doors finally opened.

The labs were creepy as hell. It was dark, with really dim lighting and I had to make sure I wouldn't knock anything over, Gaia knows what kind of chemicals were in there.

"Where's this mess?" I asked myself and then looked over to one spot and saw some test tubes that had been knocked over. I made my way to there but took a step back at what I saw.

Blood. Lots of it. It was as if the wall was painted with it and it also was splattered about that particular area. Oh man, I was officially creeped out and felt myself getting faint finding it harder to breathe all of the sudden.

Oh did I not tell you….I am deathly afraid of the sight of blood. That alone might be the main reason why I hated the color red.

'Calm down.' I tried to tell myself, 'Just calm down, it's just blood.'

Yeah right, who was I kidding here? I really didn't want to mop up that mess and just staring at it only made me want to throw-up right then and there. Then I noticed something that was mixed in with the blood on the floor and for some reason that allowed me to get curious. I bent down to the ground and picked up the object almost passing out at the fact there was sticky wet blood on it.

"A feather?" I asked myself, then I gulped feeling my body freeze up, 'Oh man, something probably died in here!'

That made me get the chills fast and the next thing you know I was pushing my cart back into the elevator calling up one of the other janitors asking him to come to the labs; I made up the excuse I was pre-occupied with something else. As I caught my breath in the elevator and wiped the sweat from my forehead I made a silent vow that I'd never ever go back down to the labs again. Unfortunately, that vow wasn't going to be permanent.

* * *

It was now time for my lunch break and I made my way into the lounge where I kept my pizza refrigerated and popped that stuff in the microwave after grabbing some orange soda from the vending machine. And of course washing my hands of that blood beforehand, that nasty blood I wanted to forget otherwise I wouldn't have an appetite.

"Hey you!" a voice called out to me, "I don't think I've ever seen you before!"

I turned to the door and saw a guy standing there, a strange one too. He had long red hair that was tied back, goggles on top of his head, and the strangest tattoos under his blue eyes. He was also dressed in a suit but it looked almost casual on him as if he was out of uniform with the un-tucked shirt and open blazer.

I didn't say anything and opened up the microwave to grab my food and sit down at the small table. Next thing I know he was in front of me looking at my nametag, "Charley huh? Don't think I've ever seen it spelled that way. Are you new here?"

Figuring that he wasn't going to leave me alone until I responded I nodded my head.

"That's why I haven't seen you! So what do you do here?"

"I'm a janitor." I replied biting into the crust of my first slice.

"Really? You're a little young to be a janitor don't you think, yo?"

I narrowed my green eyes a little in annoyance, "I'm old enough to work."

He laughed at my words, "I like you Charley, you're definitely worth talking to, not like the other guys in this building."

"I'm not that special." I said to him sipping my orange soda.

"So, how's your first day of work been?" he asked me pulling up a chair, "C'mon you look like you need company."

Okay, so he wasn't gonna walk away like I thought he would. I thought he'd take the hint but apparently that doesn't work with this guy. "Very well so far." I said, "Except for the fact I got pushed into a wall."

"Pushed into a wall huh? Who was it?"

"I don't know. He had red hair, not like yours, but darker… more brown. And he wore a red coat, his eyes were that Mako color…I'm pretty sure he was a SOLDIER."

"Oh him? That's Genesis Rhapsodos." The guy told me, "I wouldn't worry about it, the guy's a dick. You were just his target for today."

Then it hit me. That was Genesis Rhapsodos? I remember in high school there were some girls reading a magazine and gushing about how hot this one guy was and it just so happened to be about a guy named Genesis. Now that I think about it, I didn't see why he was so popular among the ladies, and I didn't really care about the lives of famous people too much.

I don't know if anyone of you are those kinds of people but I have a few words of advice: Get a life.

"He was pissed off at something that's for sure." I muttered taking another sip of the soda.

Suddenly another guy walked in a much taller, broader guy who had a bald head and wore sunglasses. The red headed guy looked in the new guy's direction, "Oh hey Rude, did you just get here?"

"Tseng told us we needed to get back to work." Rude said.

The red haired guy sighed, "Seriously yo? I swear he needs to get laid, maybe then he wouldn't be such a tight ass."

I raised an eyebrow at that. Gaia forbid I ever trash talk about someone of a higher rank than me which seemed to be what this guy was doing. Then again compared to Rude he didn't seem like a person who really followed the rules.

"Hey, you never told me your name." I said as he stood up.

The red haired one looked at me and smirked, "Name's Reno." Then he shook my hand, "Nice to meet ya Charley. Don't assume this is the last time I'll see you again, yo." With that he left with Rude and I finished my lunch in silence not really thinking his last words were too big of a deal.

* * *

It wasn't until later that I was back in the cafeteria cleaning up the place for dinner. At least Linda was there to keep me company.

"How are you Charley?" she asked me with a smile, "Did you enjoy the muffin?"

"Yes ma'am. Thank you." I said mopping up the floor, "It was very delicious, and I also ate lunch so I don't think my stomach is going to complain anytime soon."

"Good." She said nodding her head and wiping her hands on her apron. "So how's your first day been so far?"

I mentioned my lunch break and how I had met Reno and Rude. She rolled her eyes when I mentioned them, "Charley, try to stay away from them from now on, they're nothing but troublemakers those Turks."

"Reno is a bit annoying." I said bluntly to her and she gave a chuckle; which caused me to chuckle as well. I believe this was the first time I truly felt like I had a legitimate friend.

"I can agree with you on that." She replied.

"To be honest, I wasn't sure they were Turks at first." I said to her.

It's true. From what I knew Turks were really special people who were trained in assassinations, spying, kidnappings, and to be bodyguards. They were like ShinRa's little henchmen or something like that. I don't know, the thought of those kinds of people made me uneasy. Hate them or love them they helped SOLDIER and ShinRa.

"Oh those two have been around for a long time now." Linda told me, "Just be careful what you say to them from now on, okay?"

I nodded my head. I didn't want to mention Genesis or the blood I had found in the lab. After all, I didn't want Linda to be concerned about me especially on my first day.

* * *

It wasn't until later that I had to go and clean the bathrooms again one last time in the evening and then get off of work. I mean hey, I started early, so my shift got off just in time for dinner.

Honestly, after today, I really didn't want to go shopping for food but I really didn't have much of a choice; I could fall asleep later. I forced myself to change out of my work clothes and put them in the laundry to clean for tomorrow, put on some jeans and a t-shirt and go out the door.

Good news is, I found a nice little convenience store where I could get plenty of food for the week. Bad news, everything was expensive! Geez, you think Gold Saucer had high prices no, this was worse! I would have to ask Linda if she knew of any good places that I could shop for cheap food at.

Well with my shopping done I had returned to my apartment and put away the food, throwing my clothes in the dryer. For dinner I had the rest of my leftovers, why be wasteful? And it was really good pizza!

It was after I got out of the shower that I heard my cell phone ringing and assumed it was my foster mother calling me to ask how I was doing. I flipped open the phone and pressed 'TALK', "Hello?"

"Hey Charley! It's me!" I frowned at the sound of the voice I heard; it was Reno. I snapped my phone shut and threw it on my bed when it started ringing again. I rolled my eyes and picked up the phone, "Yes?"

"Why'd you hang up on me like that?"

"Why are you calling me? And how'd you even get my number?" I asked him going to the bed and drying my hair off with my towel.

"It's on the bathroom wall Charley! You know maintenance assistance? Please call this number?"

"I'm off work." I replied, "What do you want?"

"You sound annoyed with me, yo."

I slapped my forehead. Fudge, this guy was annoying, "Look, if you don't have anything you need from me then hang up and let me spend the rest of my night in peace."

"But I wanted to ask you something."

"Then please don't hesitate to ask!" I said slowly through my clenched teeth.

I heard him laughing on the phone, "Okay, okay, how about you and I go out somewhere sometime soon? You know, a guys night out?"

'This sounds like a bad idea already.' I thought to myself. "So you want me to drink with you?"

"Right!" Reno said, "I think you need to loosen up a bit, have some fun! And I'm going to help you do that."

All of a sudden I heard a noise in the background, "…Was that gunfire?!"

"Aw shit! Charley, let me call you back yo, I gotta take care of this son of a bitch. Have a good night!" with that he hung up.

I took a deep breath and fell back on my bed. After evaluating my first day I started to wonder what the hell I had gotten myself into.

To Be Continued…


	4. Flu Season & Scarlet Fever

Notes: Okay, for this part of the story Charley meets more people and gets himself caught in some awkward situations. Will he be able to handle it? Enjoy!

Chapter Three: Flu Season & Scarlet Fever

My phone rang again for what seemed like the thousandth time today! I picked it up, "Charley here."

"I need you in the kitchen." I sighed, it was Linda, "He couldn't quite make it to the trash can in time."

"On my way." I said snapping my phone shut. Cheese and crackers, this was the third one this morning!

Flu season had kicked in here at SOLDIER after a few days of me working here. You'd think with all that Mako-steroid crap they inject in their veins they'd be immune to something like this. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case here, even if they did have stuff that made them physically stronger and more powerful it didn't mean they were protected against stuff like this. Especially the Cadets who had no Mako injections.

* * *

I finally made my way up to the cafeteria and cleaned up the mess that some kid had left on the floor. I really hated the stench of vomit but hey, I'd rather clean up someone's puke over someone's blood. That's just me.

"You look exhausted." Linda told me as I sprayed some sanitation stuff on the ground.

"I've had to work overtime since people are getting sick left and right." I said to her.

"I take it you got your vaccine ahead of time?"

"Actually I got it just yesterday." I told her, but what I didn't tell her was how I almost passed out when the nurse put the needle in my arm. Yeah, I don't like needles.

"That's good." She told me, "We don't need anymore sick people here."

"I'm telling you no matter how many times I've sanitized the floors it seems like people still get sick!" I complained, "Seriously, if people are this sick they really shouldn't be up, they should be in bed resting and taking their medicine!"

Suddenly my phone rang and I picked it up, "Charley here." I listened to what they told me and snapped my phone shut. "Sorry Linda, I'm afraid I have to cut our conversation short. Some employee got sick in the office men's bathroom." With that I bid her farewell and went to my next destination.

* * *

'Dude, this is not okay!' I thought to myself as I saw the vomit that was on the floor of the bathroom stall. Apparently when the guy blew his chunks he completely missed the mark. I put in my headphones and blasted on some rock music on my little music player as I got down on my knees to take care of the mess, 'They're not paying me enough to do this job!'

Well, I got the mess cleaned up and washed my hands. Finally, it was time for my lunch break, and I was not planning on taking any calls during that little amount of time that I had to myself. As I was thinking of how wonderful that vegetarian sub sandwich would taste today when I was walking out of the bathroom and down the hall my thoughts were interrupted.

"Well look what we have here!" a feminine voice said with an icy tone to it. I ignored it and kept moving forward. That's when a woman stepped in front of my cart. Now the thing about this woman was, she looked like a bombshell…by bombshell I mean she looked like she belonged in a whorehouse. She was a blonde haired blue eyed woman wearing a bright red dress with a slit running up the side and high heels. Her chest size was also quite impressive considering how much cleavage she was exposing to the Planet. Also, she had way too much lipstick on her lips. Seriously ladies, if you want my advice guys like it natural not plastic.

I had this nagging feeling that on the inside she was just another slimy stuck-up elite. I mean she was dressed like one too. What the hell was some slutty looking lady doing at a place like this? Not to mention I disliked her already because of her choice in outfit color….I hate red.

I took my ear phones out of my hears and cleared my throat, "Can I help you with something ma'am?"

Then she let out this laugh, "Kya ha ha!", I cringed a little, oh Gaia that was the most repulsive laugh I'd ever heard in my entire life! It makes me cringe just remembering it.

"Lazard sure picked a dud. What's a little boy like you doing here? You do realize that you're doing a man's job right?"

I frowned; this lady wasn't really nice. "I've been working here a couple of days now. I think I know what I'm doing."

"Hmm, poor boy… working a low-class job. Were you picked off the streets or something? Hey, I'm talking to you!" she hissed, "How dare you disrespect those of a higher status then you."

I had to restrain myself from telling this woman off, oh the things I wanted to call her.

"I'm from Rocket Town." I replied moving my head up and then tipped my hat, "Well good day ma'am I've got a lunch break to be enjoying." I tried to move my cart the other direction when she put her hand on it keeping it in place.

"Not so fast." She said and then walked up to me leaning in close. I was starting to really dislike this, I was also getting quite nervous too. Not only did her heels make her as tall as I was but I could smell this awful perfume she was wearing. Seriously, the stench of it made an old lady's perfume seem mild! I tried to get passed her but there was no way out, she had me against the wall!

She glared at me, "Are you even a real man?"

Oh remember when I said I was a stupid teenager, I mean it because I looked at her and glared back saying, "Man enough to know the difference between a woman and a bitch!"

I didn't know whether I wanted to give myself a pat on the back for telling the truth or smack myself upside the head for my poor choice of words.

"Kya ha ha!" Oh dammit, there was that annoying laugh again. She looked a little surprised at my statement but then I saw her smirk, "My, my, such an amusing statement." Then I saw her white teeth showing, "Allow me to show you how to be a real man!"

Next thing I know her red-lipstick lips were pressed to mine and my eyes were open in shock. This damned woman had stolen my first kiss! On one hand I was like 'Well at least I can say I've kissed someone before.', but on the other I was completely disgusted and wanted her to get the hell off of me!

Suddenly I felt her tongue tracing my mouth and sirens went off in my head screaming 'DANGER, DANGER!' I was absolutely NOT enjoying this! Not to mention, it was starting to get really bad when on of her hands with those sharp manicured nails started making its way up my shirt.

I was trying to think of what I could do to get myself out of this situation when a male voice shouted, "Scarlet! What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Her mouth parted from mine and she faced the person who had interrupted us which was a complete relief to me. He was dressed in a SOLDIER uniform and had a giant sword on his back. His hair was shoulder length at least and it was a darker brown then my hair color. He stood there with his arms crossed and an un-amused look on his face. That's when I noticed there were other SOLDIERs in the hallway looking at me with looks of amusement and shock.

The moment I saw that guy who had addressed her I nearly pissed myself as I thought, 'Fudge! Please don't let that be her boyfriend!'

"Oh it's just you, Hewley. I was only having a little fun with the janitor, such a cute boy but he's got quite a mouth on him." She said looking over to me.

"Shouldn't you be getting yourself to a meeting?" the guy asked her.

The woman, who I assumed was Scarlet rolled her eyes, "I suppose." Then she looked at me and gave me a kiss on the cheek, "This one wasn't satisfying anyways." Then she walked off.

I wiped off that icky red lipstick trying to get rid of any trace of that woman's affection. If her red dress and lipstick weren't bad enough the fact that she was named after a shade of red made me despise her even more!

"Are you alright?" the guy asked me looking at me with concern, "You looked like you were attacked by a Behemoth."

I blushed in embarrassment and lowered my head a little, "I'm alright. Just wasn't expecting that to happen. Thanks for stepping in by the way."

"You're welcome. And don't be too paranoid, she doesn't work in this building. She's only here for today. Well, I'll let you get back to work."

I nodded in thanks and pushed my cart down the hall, my thoughts of lunch now ruined at the thought of some scary blonde lady named Scarlet being in the same building as me.

* * *

As I was munching away on my sub sandwich I thought about buying myself a loaf of bread since bread is my comfort food. Suddenly the door opened and in burst Reno who took one look at me and started laughing hysterically like he couldn't control himself.

"What's so funny?" I asked him raising an eyebrow.

"Oh Gaia! Ha! Charley!" he managed to compose himself to get the words out, "You gotta hear this! Apparently, there's some crazy ass rumor going around that you got molested by Scarlet!" he then let out another laughing fit and banged his fist on the counter, "Oh this is just too much yo!"

I felt my face turn pink in embarrassment and hid my face in my hat. Seriously?! It was bad enough I was cleaning people's puke but now I was a laughing stock?! This day was just getting better and better.

"Glad you're amused." I growled giving him a glare before finishing up my sandwich. "Well before you decide to make fun of me some more, I'm getting back to work."

"Wait a minute!" Reno said as I stood up, "Cheep up Charley, no need to get mad. Hey, how about we go out tonight for those drinks? It'll be on me! What do you say?"

"I won't go if all you're gonna do is make fun of me!" I said to him.

He put his hands up in the air, "Don't worry man, we can forget all about Scarlet at the bar. So is tonight cool with you?"

"Sure I guess." I mean I didn't have work tomorrow so if I was going to get myself completely trashed today wouldn't be a bad day to do it.

"Great! I'll see you around ten or so." Reno said, "Later!"

I put my hand up as if to attempt to wave at him and went back to my job.

* * *

By Shiva's wrath I had never gotten so many stares from people in one day accompanied by whispers.

"Hey, is that him?" I heard one guy whisper to another.

"Yeah I think so, did you hear?"

"That Scarlet was totally coming onto him, hell yeah, I saw the whole thing! Wanna know the weird part? He didn't even like it!"

"Oh, I heard a rumor that he's a virgin."

"Either way, that guy had the perfect opportunity to get a feel!"

I pulled my hat down tighter over my head and moved on. Honestly I wanted to turn around and tell these guys to shut up but I just bit my lip and kept on cleaning. At this point all I was hoping for was that this whole rumored died down as fast as it had escalated.

* * *

Seeing Linda in the cafeteria made me really happy that day. I got to work and she started talking to me, "Hello Charley…um, how has your day been?"

Great, she had heard too.

"I don't want to talk about it." I said. I had been through so much that having to explain it wasn't an option.

"Aww Charley." She said and then gave me a pat on the shoulder, "Were you embarrassed?"

I nodded my head and sighed, "I didn't kiss her she kissed me. And in front of everybody! But this one guy stepped in and made her go away."

"Who?"

I described the guy in detail including the giant sword on his back, seriously, I could never lift something like that!

She smiled as I described him, "That's Angeal Hewley, he's a 1st class SOLDIER here. Such a serious man too; though these days it seems like he's loosened up a bit ever since he became a mentor."

"Mentor?"

"Yes, some of the SOLDIERs here have them, Angeal is the only 1st Class SOLDIER I know that took a student under his wing. But Gaia, that boy he took in is something else!"

"Something else?" I asked mopping up the floor.

"Yes, he gets his meals here and everyday he's so cheerful and energetic. It's hard to not smile when you're around him." Linda said, "I wish there were more boys like him."

I had heard of Angeal Hewley before, there would be whispers of him at the school I went to. Guys, desiring to be just like him and girls talking about how he was physically attractive but had a personality that was too serious.

I guess that part was true.

Either way he was considered a saint in my book.

"I wouldn't worry about the rumors too much if I were you." Linda told me, "They'll go away in no time. Just watch some TV or fix yourself a good dinner and forget all about this nonsense."

I gave a small smile. I didn't tell her that I had made plans…no was pretty much forced to make plans to go drinking with Reno. Why? Well it would probably upset her knowing that Reno and I were still talking, she did tell me to stay away from him after all.

I mean from what I had experienced Reno was being a nice guy so far, actually trying to talk to me, and offering to buy me drinks tonight after what happened.

As I had made my way to the closet to put the cart away my phone beeped and I opened it up. I had gotten a text message from Reno.

_Hey Charley! Don't forget be ready by ten! I'll be in front of your apartment, don't worry I know where you live so it won't be too hard to find you! :-)_

I frowned at the last part of the text and tugged my hat further down my head. As I walked out to my place I remember saying to myself in a sarcastic voice, "He knows where I live. How comforting."

To Be Continued…


End file.
